Can a Highwall be chambered in .50-70?

[namsag]

I'm not very good at searching, but I cannot find record of such. It seems like it would be a neat rifle. Is there a reason it can't be done?

Would love to know what you know about it!

Thanks, namsag

[HARLOWPARKENFARKER]

Probably not. The problem would be the thin portion of the chamber ahead of the breech. The threads cut into the barrel would leave a very thin chamber wall.

[john.k]

Isnt there a 20g shotgun variation of the 1885?

[marlinman93]

Of course they can be chambered in .50-70 Govt.!
When Winchester first offered the 1885 one of the factory chamberings was .50-90 Sharps, which has very similar base and rim diameter to the Govt. .50 cartridge. Of course there were two barrel thread shanks, and any in a .50 would be the large shank like all other larger cartridges used. Only the very small cartridges used the smaller shank size.

[Nobade]

And if you don't mind a foreign import, Browning and I believe later Winchester chambered the Miroku made 1885s in 50-90 also.

[namsag]

I have a Pedersoli in .45-70. I was thinking in terms of maybe having it changed over, the barrel walls certainly seem thick enough, but I don't know about the barrel threads, perhaps a whole new barrel would be necessary.

[GregLaROCHE]

I have a Pedersoli in .45-70. I was thinking in terms of maybe having it changed over, the barrel walls certainly seem thick enough, but I don't know about the barrel threads, perhaps a whole new barrel would be necessary.

You could try contacting Pedersoli and see what they think.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

The recent Winchester 1885(japan) has been available in .325 WSM. Should be strong enough for most .50's, The .325 has a .555 case head diameter like the .348, like the .50-110 Win. Older 1885's - it depends.

[marlinman93]

I have a Pedersoli in .45-70. I was thinking in terms of maybe having it changed over, the barrel walls certainly seem thick enough, but I don't know about the barrel threads, perhaps a whole new barrel would be necessary.

No idea what thread diameter or shank diameter Pedersoli uses, but you should be able to look at the chamber end and measure fairly close by what the shank OD measures there. Or talk to whoever you plan to use to bore, rifle, and chamber it to .50 and see what they say. I'm betting it's just a close metric size to what Winchester used.

[Harleysboss]

Give Jes rebore in Oregon a call. I'm sure he could tell you and do the work. His website might even tell you what you need to know.

[muskeg13]

I'm following this closely, since I have a .405 Highwall clone that I'm considering having rebored to .50-70. A year or so ago I mentioned this in passing when talking with JES concerning another project I was having him do, and he suggested going with .50 Alaskan.

[1Hawkeye]

I remember a few years back I asked Jessie about a highwall in .50-70 he said it was possible but sometimes they have extraction issues.
I don't remember the whole conversation but aquick call to Jessie will answer your question. Jes is a great guy to talk to and will be glad to help you with your rifle.

[Don McDowell]

The highwall could be rebarreled and chambered to 50-70, won't be an inexpensive project, and get the brass on hand before you start the project.

[Rockindaddy]

I have rebarreled 3 original Sharps to 50-70. They work great! Might be easier to find a shot out 50-70 Sharps conversion and put a new barrel on it. Bambi doesn't stand much of a chance with 50-70. The 450gr bullets usually break both shoulders and put a big hole in the lungs. They don't go but 20~50 yards if at all and fall over. Have been experimenting with 300 and 325 gr bullets. Accuracy is great and the shoulder takes a bit less kick. Using an original receiver allows me to restore the Sharps address too. Old die maker! I reroll the markings as the originals.

[marlinman93]

I have rebarreled 3 original Sharps to 50-70. They work great! Might be easier to find a shot out 50-70 Sharps conversion and put a new barrel on it. Bambi doesn't stand much of a chance with 50-70. The 450gr bullets usually break both shoulders and put a big hole in the lungs. They don't go but 20~50 yards if at all and fall over. Have been experimenting with 300 and 325 gr bullets. Accuracy is great and the shoulder takes a bit less kick. Using an original receiver allows me to restore the Sharps address too. Old die maker! I reroll the markings as the originals.

A Sharps has a 1.127" thread size shank, where a Winchester High Wall in a large shank has a .935" thread size shank. Can't compare the two although both are plenty large enough for the .565" base diameter of a .50-70 cartridge.

[John Taylor]

The 50-70 is a low pressure cartridge. The high wall was used to test many cartridges including a standard chamber of 30-06 . I installed a 20 gauge barrel on one several years back with no problems. It is rumored that there were a few made in 70-150 which would have had to have the threads in the receiver made larger.

[Chill Wills]

I would think you might need a multi-man gun crew to shoot a 70-150. Or, at least I might.

[Nobade]

The original 12GA FH...

[Bigslug]

As I recall, there's an early - probably Browning Brothers, not Winchester - High Wall chambered in .50-100 in the Browning museum in Ogden. It inspired much lust.

[GregLaROCHE]

50-110 was first introduced by Winchester in 1899.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50-110_Winchester